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This creamy gnocchi with sausage recipe is an easy, quick, and incredibly delicious comfort food meal made all in one pan. It’s ready in just 30 minutes!
If you’re wondering what to make with Italian sausage, try my Creamy Sausage and Peppers Pasta or Italian Sausage Tortellini Soup next for more inspiration.
Why you’ll love it
Tender gnocchi and flavorful Italian sausage is one of my favorite combos. It’s just such a tasty protein that goes with all kinds of pasta, and gnocchi is no exception. Pair it with a mouthwatering creamy tomato sauce, and it’s pure heaven. This one pan gnocchi recipe tastes like it came from a restaurant, but it’s super simple to make.
Like several of my gnocchi recipes, this Italian sausage gnocchi is a one pan wonder as well. The gnocchi cooks right in the sauce, so no need to boil it separately. Fewer dishes means more time spent enjoying this cozy treat with your family or guests that’s sure to dazzle!
What you’ll need
- Italian sausage – use either ground sausage meat or buy a pack of mild Italian sausages, take out of the casings, and crumble it
- Onion and garlic – our base aromatics. I prefer sweet (Vidalia) onions
- White wine – adds a touch of elegance! Use a dry white wine like sauvignon blanc or pinot grigio, one you actually enjoy drinking (not cooking wine).
- Diced tomatoes – a convenient way to get that concentrated tomato taste since they’re canned at the peak of ripeness
- Heavy cream – for making the sauce luxurious
- Gnocchi – I buy the shelf-stable potato gnocchi found in the pasta aisle of most major grocery stores
- Parmesan cheese – always use freshly grated for optimal flavor and texture
- Basil – it gives a burst of freshness and is a classic pairing with tomato sauces
Tools for this recipe
Check out Natasha’s favorite kitchen essentials, gadgets, and cookware!
- This garlic press is my go-to since you don’t even need to peel the cloves before mincing them.
- I like this trusty can opener, and these angled measuring cups make it easy to measure out the liquid ingredients.
- I often make this recipe in this cast iron skillet.
How to make creamy sausage gnocchi
This is an overview with step-by-step photos. Full ingredients & instructions are in the recipe card below.
Prep the ingredients. Sauté the sausage and onion in a skillet until lightly browned, then stir in the garlic for about half a minute. Pour in the wine and cook for a minute or so.
Add in the tomatoes, gnocchi, and cream. Let it bubble, then cover and reduce the heat and simmer for about 5 minutes. Stir, then let it cook uncovered until thickened and the gnocchi is soft. Add in the parm, basil, and season with salt & pepper. Enjoy!
Pro tips
- I have homemade gnocchi. Can I use that instead? Not for this recipe. It’s very delicate and won’t hold up to the one pan recipe method.
- Am I supposed to cook the gnocchi first? Nope! The beauty of this one is that it cooks right in the sauce. In fact, the starch released is an important component of the sauce.
- Why isn’t my sauce thickening? Stoves and cookware are all different, so if it’s not thickening up, simply give it more time. On the other hand, if your stove runs hot, just turn down the heat a little.
Substitutions and variations
- If you can’t use white wine for whatever reason, try replacing it with chicken broth plus 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard.
- For a spicy kick, add in some crushed pepper flakes or use a hot variety of sausage. You could also try my Spicy Italian Sausage Gnocchi recipe instead.
- Many of my readers add in some spinach at the end until it wilts to get in some greens.
- Our kitchen doesn’t recommend substituting the heavy cream for something with a lower fat content. You could get away with using half-and-half, but it won’t be as rich or flavorful, and there’s always a chance of curdling due to the tomatoes.
What to serve with this gnocchi
- This is a fairly rich meal, so all it needs is a big slice of fresh bread alongside it. Try French bread, sourdough, or a dinner roll. Going all out with Cheesy Garlic Bread is always a good idea, though!
- For lighter fare, my Super Simple Parmesan Arugula Salad is easy peasy and goes well. Mixed greens with my Creamy Balsamic Dressing works too.
Leftovers and storage
- Leftovers of this gnocchi will keep for 3-4 days in the fridge in a covered container.
- I suggest re-warming it in a saucepan over a low heat slowly. Keep in mind that as time goes on, the gnocchi will release more starch, so you can always add a splash more wine or cream to thin it a bit.
- Freezing pasta with creamy sauces isn’t something I recommend. The texture is liable to change.
Hope you love this simple gnocchi recipe! I’d love it if you left me a review below. You can also tag me #saltandlavender on Instagram to showcase any recipe of mine you made.
One Pan Creamy Gnocchi with Sausage
Ingredients
- 16 ounces Italian sausage see note
- 1/2 small onion chopped finely
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1/3 cup dry white wine (e.g. sauvignon blanc)
- 1 (14 ounce) can diced tomatoes with juices
- 1 cup heavy/whipping cream
- 1 pound uncooked potato gnocchi
- 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
- Handful fresh basil torn
- Salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Sauté the sausage and onion in a skillet over medium-high heat for 7-10 minutes, or until lightly browned.
- Add the garlic to the pan and sauté for about 30 seconds.
- Add the wine and let it cook for about a minute.
- Stir in the diced tomatoes, cream, and gnocchi. Once the sauce starts to bubble again, cover the pan and reduce the heat to medium. Cook for 5 minutes.
- Uncover the pan, give it a good stir, and let it cook for another few minutes, or until the gnocchi has cooked through and is nice and soft and the sauce has thickened to your liking.
- Stir in the parmesan cheese, basil, and salt & pepper, to taste. Serve immediately.
Notes
- There is no need to pre-cook the gnocchi. It’ll cook right in the sauce.
- For the sausages, anything around the 16 ounce/1 pound ballpark is fine – it doesn’t need to be exact. Buy ground sausage meat or take the sausage meat out of the casings if using whole sausages.
- This recipe can also be found on page 16 of the Salt & Lavender: Everyday Essentials cookbook.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
© Salt & Lavender Inc. Content and photographs are copyrighted. Sharing this blog post is much appreciated, but copying and pasting full recipes without authorization to social media is strictly prohibited.
This recipe was originally published on December 22, 2017. It’s been updated with new photos and better instructions but is the same great recipe!
Delicious!!
Loved it, I added mushrooms, onion powder and garlic powder. My dad had seconds!
Excellent!! Thanks for letting me know, Alex 🙂
We made this last night and it instantly became one of our favorites! It was quick, easy and delicious!
I am so pleased to hear that! Thanks for letting me know! 🙂
Do you use uncooked sausage? And you cook it with the casing, which always seems tough to me. I just don’t think I’ve ever seen 8oz pkg Italian sausage so sure wish you’d take a photo or give an exact name of the product. Is it fresh or frozen?
Hi Carol! Yes, I used uncooked sausage. You can definitely take it out of the casing… I usually end up doing that too. Do you live in the USA or Canada? I use the Johnsonville brand. I am pretty sure they’re shipped frozen, but I always used it thawed. Here’s a link to what I use: https://www.johnsonville.com/products/mild-italian-links.html 🙂 I just went back to my recipe notes, and I used half a pack of the Johnsonville sausages (so 250g or 8.8 ounces). I will update the recipe to make it more clear – my apologies and thanks for bringing this to my attention.
Can I slow cooker this recipe.
Hi Joy! It’s a really quick stove top recipe, so I don’t recommend it. I think that the gnocchi may get rubbery, the sauce would probably become gloopy from the starch if you cook it for hours, and you’d have to brown the sausage anyway, so dirtying up a Crockpot would just add another unnecessary step. If you wanted to cook it the usual way and keep it warm in the Crockpot to serve a bit later, that would probably be fine, though.
This tastes amazing. My family loved it!
Soo happy to hear it!!
This recipe is absolutely amazing!
As soon as we tried this, we *loved* all the spicy creaminess this has to offer; it’s *so* much better than boring marinara flavor of lots of Italian sauces. We had never made anything with gnocchi, but we have sought out other recipes that include these “bouncy potatoes” (my husband’s nickname for gnocchi) thanks to this dish.
This quickly became one of our favorite recipes and is now in our regular rotation–I can’t even count how many times we’ve made it over the past year! Thanks so much for creating and sharing this!
Aww thank you for taking the time to leave this sweet comment! Bouncy potatoes lol love it. So happy this recipe is a regular for you!!
As far as substitute for using regular pasta is the cook it to a few under al dente and finish in the sauce. This way the pasta will get a chance to soak up the sauce as it finishes cooking. . Maybe add a few spoons of the starchy pasta water.
Yes!
I’m going to try this tonight with Trader Joe’s Cauliflower Gnocchi and see how it goes!
Hope you like it, Wendy! 🙂
I would love to know how it turned out with the cauliflower gnocchi. Was considering trying that tonight!
This was crazy easy and so delicious with hot Italian sausage, my family all loved it! Thank you so much for a tasty and easy weeeknight recipe!
That’s great, Michelle!! Thanks for letting me know 🙂